ROBERT E. BENNETT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1985-06-12
No. 84-884
CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.
470 So. 2d 824 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1985)

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Synopsis

Robert E. Bennett appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to discharge based on denial of the right to a speedy trial, claiming a constitutional violation due to a nearly 52-month lapse between the information charging him and the order denying discharge. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's denial, holding that Bennett failed to timely assert his speedy trial right despite the lengthy delay.


Holding

The appellate court held that Bennett's speedy trial claim was frivolous because, notwithstanding the four-year delay and the state's role in losing his case in its computer system, Bennett failed to timely assert his right to a speedy trial, which is a critical factor in evaluating whether pretrial delay violates the Sixth Amendment.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial is determined by considering the length of the delay, the reason for the delay, the timely assertion of the right, an…

[2] A defendant's failure to timely assert the right to a speedy trial can be determinative in finding that the right has not been violated, even in the face of a prolonged d…

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Key Quotes

“the unassailable fact is that in the course of this prolonged matter the appellant failed timely to assert his right to speedy trial”

Establishes that failure to timely assert speedy trial rights is the dispositive factor, even with lengthy delays

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Facts & Procedural History

The information charging Bennett with resisting arrest with violence and battery of a law enforcement officer was filed on July 27, 1979. A not guilty…

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Opinion of the Court
FRANK, Judge.

FRANK, Judge.

The appellant, Robert E. Bennett, appeals from the trial court’s order denying his motion for discharge asserting that the lapse of nearly fifty-two months from the date of the information charging him with felonious conduct to the date of such order constitutionally entitled him to termination of the proceeding. We do not agree.

The information charging the appellant with resisting arrest with violence and the battery of a law enforcement officer was filed on July 27, 1979. The appellant entered a not guilty plea on August 23, 1979, and trial was set for October 3, 1979. On that date, the appellant’s counsel withdrew his appearance, the trial was continued, and speedy trial was waived for the period of the continuance.

On October 24, 1979, an attorney entered an appearance on behalf of the appellant. Thereafter, the case remained dormant until July 25, 1983. Apparently due to a docket clearing procedure, and an error committed in the state attorney’s office, the case was closed on July 26, 1983, in an order entered by the trial court. The erroneous closing order was entered notwithstanding that a pretrial hearing had at an earlier time been scheduled for August 29, 1983. The notice setting the August 29 hearing was served upon the appellant’s attorney who, on that date, filed a motion to withdraw.

On September 1, 1983, the trial court appointed a public defender, and on September 14, 1983, the appellant entered pleas of not guilty to the two offenses. A new trial date of October 31, 1983, was scheduled, but on that date the appellant requested and was granted still another continuance. The trial date was again reset for November 21,1983, and speedy trial was tolled for the period of the continuance.

On November 21, 1983, the appellant again sought and was accorded a continuance. The motion to discharge grounded upon an asserted unconstitutional deprivation of a speedy trial was filed on November 28, 1983, and was denied on January 6, 1984. Thereafter, the appellant changed his pleas, pleaded nolo to each of the charges and reserved the right to appeal the denial of his motion for discharge.

Based upon the foregoing, and consistent with such authority as Hallman v. State, 462 So. 2d 120 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), we find the appellant’s contention that he was unconstitutionally denied a speedy trial wholly frivolous. We recognized in State v. Roundtree, 438 So. 2d 68, 70 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983), the factors to be considered in determining whether a pretrial delay is violative of the right conferred by the Sixth Amendment to a speedy trial. They include the length of the delay, the reason for the delay, the timely assertion of the right, and the existence of actual prejudice as a result of the delay. Notwithstanding that there was more than a four year delay between the filing of the information and the motion to discharge, that the appellant may have been lost in the state’s computer system, and the appellant’s assertion that he was prejudiced by the delay because certain aspects of the criminal events have become obscured, the unassailable fact is that in the course of this prolonged matter the appellant failed timely to assert his right to speedy trial. Cf. State v. Roundtree.

Affirmed.

CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.


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